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Non-profit to help install 100 megawatts of solar power for low-income families by 2024

May 9, 2014

GRID Alternatives, the nation's largest non-profit solar installer, joined President Obama and over 300 other companies, organizations and public agencies in making major new commitments to deploy renewable energy. In support of the Obama administration's national renewable energy goals, GRID Alternatives is committing to help install 100 MW of solar power on affordable single-family and multifamily homes across the country by 2024. As part of this effort, GRID Alternatives is also announcing a new Tribal Solar Initiative to ensure that American Indian tribes across the US have access to the benefits of solar power.

'We're thrilled to see the President taking so much leadership around solar deployment,' said Erica Mackie, CEO and Co-founder of GRID Alternatives, who participated in today's (May 9th) presidential announcement in Mountain View. 'We will continue to work with the administration to ensure that our most economically vulnerable and underserved communities are included in our nation's transition to clean energy.'

GRID Alternatives has been installing solar power and providing job training in low-income communities in California since 2004, and now serves Colorado and the New York tri-state area as well. The organization also manages California's SASH program, the single-family component of the state's groundbreaking $324 million low-income solar program.

For low-income families like Floricel and Arturo Martinez, California Central Valley farmworkers who went solar with GRID Alternatives in 2012, the energy cost savings is money they can spend on basic necessities like food and school supplies for their children. For the Herrera-Vallejo family in Roseville, CA, solar means affordable electricity to power their child's life-sustaining medical equipment, and for Joyln Bright in New Jersey, solar means help getting back on track after Superstorm Sandy. These are families that, without support from both the private and public sectors, would not be able to benefit from solar technology.

GRID Alternatives also provides a 'classroom on the roof' for solar job trainees across the country. We work with more than 70 community colleges and job training programs, including the SunShot Solar Installer Training Network highlighted by the President, helping trainees get the real-word experience they need to translate training into jobs. GRID Alternatives also partners with AmeriCorps to provide service learning opportunities that help bring young people into renewable energy careers.

'Today's (May 9th) solar commitments mean more jobs, many of them in installation, which can't be outsourced,' said Mackie. 'GRID Alternatives is helping provide a pipeline of trained installers for the rapidly growing solar industry and a pathway to good jobs for people who need them most.'

About GRID Alternatives

GRID Alternatives is a non-profit organization that makes renewable energy technology and job training accessible to low-income communities. We bring together community partners, volunteers and job trainees to implement solar power and energy efficiency for low-income families, providing energy cost savings, valuable hands-on experience, and a source of clean, local energy that benefits us all. More than 4200 families have benefited from our work to date, saving $117 million in lifetime electricity costs, and over 16,000 people have received solar training. GRID Alternatives has offices throughout California, in Denver, CO, and in New York, serving the tri-state region.